A Louisiana family is fighting to protect its beloved pit bull from a `` vicious dogs '' ordinance .

Joanna Armand started an online petition to protect pit bull Zeus from an uncertain fate . The petition , which asks the village of Moreauville to reverse a `` vicious dog '' ban against pit bulls and rottweilers , has drawn nearly 40,000 signatures .

Zeus is far from a vicious dog , Armand told CNN . He provides love and support for her children , especially daughter O'Hara , who suffers from severe neck problems and uses a Halo brace and a wheelchair .

`` If anything ever happened to him , I would just shut down , '' O'Hara told KALB .

Zeus acts as a sort of therapy dog for O'Hara , Armand told CNN . He sleeps by O'Hara 's side every night ; if O'Hara wakes up with seizures , he rouses her mother .

The family has asked local officials to consider the special circumstances , only to be told there 's nothing they can do , Armand told CNN .

The village of Moreauville passed an ordinance in October banning pit bulls and rottweilers as of December 1 .

Owners of the animals received a letter saying that pets found within the corporate limits of Moreauville after that date will be `` impounded and transported to a veterinary clinic for further disposition , '' according to a letter posted on the family 's Facebook page .

The mayor and alderman of Moreauville did not respond to CNN 's repeated requests for comment . Alderman Penn Lemoine told KALB that the ordinance was created to placate residents in the small village .

`` We had several residents that were complaining about not being able to walk along the neighborhoods because these dogs were basically running along town , '' Lemoine said , according to KALB .

Moreauville is not the first to pass a ordinance restricting the ownership of pit bulls , rottweilers or other so-called `` vicious dogs . '' But the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommends breed neutral laws `` that focus , not on breed , but on people 's responsibility for their dogs ' behavior , including measures that hold owners of all breeds accountable for properly housing , supervising and controlling their dogs . ''

The White House also signaled its opposition to breed-specific legislation in 2013 , saying `` research shows that bans on certain types of dogs are largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources . '' Several states have passed legislation banning local governments from introducing breed-specific laws or ordinances .

Besides , pit bulls are not a breed of dog . Several breeds of dogs , mainly the Bull Terrier , the Bull dog and the American Staffordshire Terrier are commonly referred to as `` pit bulls . '' These dogs descended from an English bull-baiting dog bred to bite and hold bulls , bears and other large animals around the face and head , according to the ASPCA . They were later bred with terriers to produce a more agile , athletic type dog .

`` It is likely that that the vast majority of pit bull type dogs in our communities today are the result of random breeding -- two dogs being mated without regard to the behavioral traits being passed on to their offspring . The result of random breeding is a population of dogs with a wide range of behavioral predispositions . For this reason it is important to evaluate and treat each dog , no matter its breed , as an individual . ''

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Family starts petition asking village to reverse ban against pit bulls and rottweilers

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Family fears Zeus will be taken from them pursuant to village 's `` vicious dogs '' ordnance

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Zeus provides children with love and support , they say